The Right to Notification
- August 2, 2014
- Clayton Rice, K.C.
A wiretap authorization may only be granted by a superior court judge. The application is made by an agent of the Attorney General of a province or the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. An agent is specially designated…
Police Need Warrant to Search Smart Phones
- July 16, 2014
- Clayton Rice, K.C.
In two major developments in Canada the courts have enhanced the protection of information stored by citizens on their computers and smart phones. In R. v. Vu, [2013] 3 S.C.R. 657 the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously held that the…
Fourth Amendment Protects Cell Phone Privacy
- July 2, 2014
- Clayton Rice, K.C.
In a landmark case reported as Riley v. California, 573 U.S. __ (2014) released on June 25, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously held that a warrantless search and seizure of digital contents of a cell phone…
Privacy Matters
- June 16, 2014
- Clayton Rice, K.C.
The Charter of Rights protects three privacy interests which we encounter in our daily lives. Mr. Justice Ian Binnie of the Supreme Court of Canada identified them as: personal privacy (bodily integrity), territorial privacy (privacy in the home) and informational…
Innocent Third Parties
- June 2, 2014
- Clayton Rice, K.C.
The police wiretap a landline in a lounge because they suspect that a drug dealer uses it for business. A waitress uses the lounge phone to call an abortion clinic to make an appointment. The police wiretap a pay phone…